posted 05-23-2005 02:48 PM ET (US)            

I use a Fortress FX-11 (7 pounds) on my 1990 Revenge 22 WT. I use 20-ft of chain. I anchor primarily in light current and rocky bottom and can usually get the anchor to hold. I like its light weight, but 20'ft of chain weighs a ton! The Fortress came with the boat when I bought her in 1997 (the second anchor was a 22-lb Bruce!).

It's a good anchor. If you're not anchoring that often, look at the Guardian anchor, the little brother of the Fortress. 40% cheaper and will likely do the same job. The G-11 Guardian is 6 pounds. Or go smaller still and look at the G-7 at 4 pounds or the FX-7 at 4 pounds also (both rated for boats to 22-ft).

The Fortress Anchor website has a lot of info. West Marine carries a line of both and has prices.

Is the Fortress or Guardian the right answer? Don't know, but my FX-11 works for me.

posted 05-23-2005 03:13 PM ET (US)            

The trick with them is that you need to allow time for them to get to the bottom. They don't drop as fast as a steel one. Jim - I know you are a sailor, you will get this as far as anchoring goes - head into the wind, drop the anchor while holdin position, then pay out line as the boat drifts back. You won't have any problems.

If you have to anchor in rocky bottoms or very hard bottoms, then I think a Bruce style anchor is best since it can hook around rocks better and with less potential to bend parts of it.

posted 05-23-2005 05:36 PM ET (US)            

As for chain, I've always been taught that it's more important than anchor type or weight. Andy's right when he says that chain helps a light anchor sink swiftly and set, but perhaps its most important function is as a shock absorber. Now that sounds really counter-intuitive--a rigid chain serving as a shock absorber--but the weight of the chain causes it to droop forming a 'catenary (sp?) curve' which absorbs much of the shock as the boat surges against the anchor. You can go to lighter chain with a lighter anchor, of course, but then you'll lose this shock absorbing benefit and make the anchor much more likely to break out when it shouldn't.

I've got an oversized Dansforth about the size of yours with I guess twelve or fifteen feet of chain in my bow locker plus a little collapsable lunch hook without chain up there in my Outrage 18...of course I want weight up forward to trim my boat the way I like (I also keep about 35 two and two-and-one-half pound lead weights in the cooler seat forward of my console).

Tony

posted 05-23-2005 05:56 PM ET (US)            

My respectful solution:
Twin E-Tec 200's on that Whaler Drive!

Seriously -
I really, really like my Bruce anchor. It's only 3 KG, and I know that it's not used by many folks up here in the Midwest, but the anchor holds in almost bottom, and it automatically resets when the wind shifts. I anchored just outside the "surf zone" in 3 foot waves regularly off Grand Mere state park on Lake Michigan numerous times last year, and each time, on my swim to shore and back out to the boat, I'd use the snorkel and go down to check the anchor: No dragging, solid as a rock, and buried in the sand.

Use a roller on the bow pulpit to deploy it just like you would a danforth or fortress.

Just my opinion.

Dave

posted 05-23-2005 06:02 PM ET (US)            

saw these at the London boat show and the video appeared to suggest that they would punch well above thier weight so to speak, they are also self righting.

I think they were quite expensive about £100 pounds for a twenty foot boat as I remember but worth a look.

regards chris.

posted 05-23-2005 11:05 PM ET (US)            

When considering truly lightweight anchors, I believe Fortress is the only choice.

Like Andy, I have the Fortress FX-7 (4 lbs.)with 20' of chain. I have had it for over 10 years now and couldn't be happier. It has tenacious holding in a soft bottom and usually must be "powered" out to retreive. The longer chain will reduce the tendency to "sail" in a strong current.

The Fortress is clearly the Whaler of anchors!

posted 05-24-2005 12:41 AM ET (US)         

Whatever anchor you decide on (I'm a galvanized steel man myself), DO NOT "hide" that anchor away somewhere as a convenience. You may not "plan" on anchoring much and that's fine, but the anchor is a major line of defense in an emergency. Loosing power coming in a channel bordered by rocks with a current can be horrifing if you can't stop the drift with your anchor.

Check the regulations where you typically boat. There may even be a requirement to have it at the ready. Just a thought!

posted 05-24-2005 08:23 AM ET (US)            

I agree 100% with Jim on this. I'm a firm believer that an anchor should be mounted on a bow roller, of some type, with a chain tensioner for instant deployment.

7 pounds of bow roller? Are you kidding? I doubt if my bow roller and chain tensioner together weigh over a pound!

The bow roller that came with your Revenge is one of the largest I have ever seen and belongs on a much larger boat.

Get an FX-7 (4#), 10 or 20 feet of chain (5#), and an appropriately sized anchor roller and chain tensioner (2#), and you're all set. This would reduce your ft-lbs of moment to 297 (44%), if that really matters.

Steve

posted 05-24-2005 02:52 PM ET (US)            

It seems that jimh is concerned about every last pound of weight out there on the bow because his boat is slow to come up on plane (or has difficulty maintaining plane at reasonably low speeds), right? Jimh has apparently made a calculation that places the 'fulcrum' of the forces way, way aft, right back at his motors, which--and again forgive my ignorance of such things--doesn't make any sense to me at all. Seems to me, intuitively, that the 'fulcrum' is more at the midships of his boat as she begins to accellerate, and moves further aft as the boat climbs up onto plane. I sure don't think that this point EVER reaches all the way back to the motors themselves, unless we're talking about a radical speedboat blasting along totally out of the water planing on her cavitation plates. If I'm right about this concept, then the negative effect of having the anchor's weight way up there in the eyes of the craft is substantially minimized, though its effect does increase as the boat's speed increases on plane and what I'm calling the 'fulcrum' moves further back.

posted 05-24-2005 05:37 PM ET (US)            

My bruce started out as my second anchor, however, it has taken over from the danforth that lives up in the bow locker (no pulpit on this boat.) It lives in the stern fishwell, and the rhode lives in a mesh bag. About 2 feet of the bitter end sticks out of the bottom of the bag and has an eye on it. I don't even have any chain on it. In a pinch you can put the eye on the end over a cleat and pitch the whole package overboard. The line will pay out of the bag and not foul the anchor.

Whatever anchor you chooose, I am a big fan of the rhode bags. Yes, it takes a minuter or two to stuff the line back into the bag after you use it, but it keeps things from getting tangled if you put other stuff in the locker with the anchor and rhode.

posted 05-24-2005 08:58 PM ET (US)            

So Knots, you're right as usual (at least when you stick to opinions concerning seamanship :-)!).

posted 05-24-2005 10:50 PM ET (US)            

On my 15' Sport, I have the smallest guardian ever made (in fact, I shortened the shank so it would stow in the anchor locker). Attached to it is roughly 8' of 5/16" stainless steel chain, followed by 200' of 3/8" double braid line. I generally anchor in sand and have not had much difficulty getting the previous 4lb galvanized danforth, or the guardian to stick. However, in anchoring my father's 30' Houseboat with an aluminum anchor and 10' of 3/8" chain, I have seen a tendancy to skim the surface rather than digging on on more than one anchoring occasion, with the same sand bottom. (I've been tossing anchors off their houseboat since I was big enough to lift an anchor).

One thing I will note about the Guardian: I have seen some electrolysis between the SS shackle and the bare aluminum anchor. I've noticed minor pitting where the chain has simply been in contact with the fluke while stowed in a damp locker after use in saltwater. The electrolysis is not to the point of being a threat to safety, it's simply cosmetic. However, I was surprised to see even cosmetic damage, since the anchors are so highly regarded. Maybe the anodizing on a Fortress resists contact with SS better than bare aluminum. My father's aluminum anchor is much older and shows far fewer signs of pitting and electrolysis. Although, he uses galvanized chain and the zinc is less noble than the aluminum in that case.

posted 05-24-2005 11:19 PM ET (US)            

Your choice.

posted 05-25-2005 02:56 AM ET (US)            

A longer chain make a more effective catenary curve 'shock absorber' when the wind, tides and/or seas kick up (you might want to check out my post above concerning this). A longer chain offers more protection against the anchor line itself chaffing on rocks. A longer, heavier chain helps the anchor set, and its weight at the head of the anchor keeps the shank more parallel to the bottom, thus further preventing the anchor from accidentally breaking free.

All this is nothing but words and theory in your situation, obviously, since your setup has worked well for you over the years. On the northern California coast the bottom shelves swiftly and I find myself anchoring on occasion in up to 100 ft of water over a sandy bottom. Obviously the more scope the better, but my rode is less than 300 ft, and with a shorter scope more chain is necessary. I'm sure you know that many cruising sailboats rig their main hook with all-chain rode...very expensive but durable, coral-resistant, and bomb proof.*

Anyway, different strokes for different scopes, and a never-ending topic to BS about over a few cold ones in a waterfront dive.

Tony

posted 05-25-2005 08:27 AM ET (US)            

Advice to keep the anchor at the ready is good advice. I don't like to stow the anchor on the bow pulpit because it becomes a battering ram. If you are in a tight docking situation with cross winds, I'd rather not have an anchor as the most forward part of the boat. I'll give some thought to keeping a lighter anchor in the bow locker.

As for not anchoring by the stern, we used to do just that all the time with our sailboat. A lot of other sailors thought we were nuts, too. But at anchor with the roller furled genoa on the bow, our boat would sail on its mooring. In a breeze it would relentlessly tack back and forth. Moving the anchor to the stern let the furled genoa act as a riding sail, and we could sit steady all afternoon in a breeze; no more sailing around the anchorage on our mooring.

Also I find handling the anchor to be much more easily accomplished from the cockpit than the foredeck. Once the anchor is over the side you can walk the line to the bow to make it fast if you need to keep the boat pointed into the wind and waves.

posted 05-25-2005 09:26 AM ET (US)            

I'm replacing the 26' of 1/4" chain with their recommended 3/16" for her. Fortress advises 6' of chain for every 25' of water depth, and that's about as deep as we'll anchor, but I started out with 18' and will cut back to maybe 12-13' if she needs less weight.

Because of the lighter anchor/chain, we're going to use Yale Cordage's "brait" rode (3/8" x 200') which is easy on the hands but has even more stretch than hard on the hands twisted nylon. The stretch of the smaller diameter AND the brait should help with the lighter anchor/chain set. It also flakes without twist better.

That being said, it's just a light Danforth, and not ideal for rocks, gravel, grass, and soft mud (Bruce, Claw, Delta, CQR territory), nor do I feel good about using it alone in storm conditions. For that, we're keeping the heavy chain and will be carrying it and a rode with either a Lewmar "claw" (Bruce clone) or a Bulwagga in a tub below decks. For storm conditions, both will be deployed, off the bow.

Here's one of several Powerboat Reports (Practical Sailor) anchor tests:

http://www.noteco.com/bulwagga/multimedia/powerboat_pdf_Jan_01.pdf

posted 05-25-2005 10:44 AM ET (US)            

I now keep a bow line attached to the mooring bit and run it back to the cockpit outside of the rails to the mid-ship cleat. The bow line has a loop tied in the end. My anchor and rhode sit in a milk crate in the cockpit. Deployment is simple and safe. I toss the anchor over the side, pay out enough rode, tug on the anchor line until I know the anchor is set, and then quickly double up a section of rhode and tie it to the bow line with a sheet bend and let the boat drift back until the bow line comes tight. The slack remainder of the rhode continues from the sheet bend back to the cockpit and is used to pull the bow line and rhode back to the cockpit when its time to pull the anchor up.

posted 05-25-2005 01:45 PM ET (US)            

you gave a perfect example of why knot. We recently lost a small boater and his fiance recently off Pensacola Beach. The boat was found with Anchor line tied to stern Clean. His boat turned stern first into oncoming swells and drew water over the stern. Guess is he had trouble getting his anchor off and tied to stern to pull. As he pulled the boat swung into swell, took water and weighted down by the motor and sudden increase in water weight, boat went down.

They recovered one body and a diver found his boat on the bottom, in 90 feet of water with the Anchor attached to the stern.

posted 06-04-2005 05:31 PM ET (US)         

The compact and 5# weight 5H is all that's needed for a 22. I use the 12# 12H on my 25, and it's overkill, and would also work fine on a 27-30' boat. These are expensive, but you get what you pay for. Since mine are carried on a pulpit, I keep them spray painted chrome. They look pretty good.